October 8, 2012
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Haunted Hizzy
Ever since I could remember I’ve always loved haunted houses. I can’t quite remember the first time I went to one but I’m quite certain I was a teenager. I’ve always found the whole thing fun and entertaining. I like to be scared or startled which is probably the better word. Let’s face it, as adults it’s not like we are walking around screaming or with our hands over our eyes. For most guys we get startled and maybe jump when somebody jumps out at us or when a prop goes off in the house. But, it is the starling that really is kinda cool.
When I was 22 I worked at a haunted house in the area with a good friend of mine, Dave. This was a brand new haunted house in the area; it was the first year that it was open (and as it turned out, the only year) and Dave and I were the first two people the owner hired. There were two haunted houses there, one was your normal run of the mill haunted house and the other was a haunted clown house. My job was to get dressed up like a clown and let people in the house. I also had to entertain the people waiting. So I entertained the best way I knew how………….I heckled people. I called myself Heckels the Clown. Yeah, that is where my screen name came from. And yes, I intentionally spelled it wrong. As for the job itself, it was the most fun I ever had at a job, I loved it. If only it paid more than $6.00 an hour and was a permanent job instead of a month long.
So that was 1997. In the years that followed, I never again worked in a haunted house. But, I still went to them. In 2000, some friends and I even took a trip specifically just to go to haunted houses, some of the best in the country down in St Louis. We had a great time and they were well worth the trip and more than lived up to their reputation. In one of them, I remember walking up to a coffin that had a dead bride in it. I stood over her and said “wow, she actually looks real” and just as I started to turn away she sat up and looked at me, scaring the absolute shit out of me. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had a scare that good before or since. Hell, just think about it, how many times are you at a wake or a funeral and you look at the still, lifeless body and think in the back of your head that it is going to move.
In the years since I haven’t gone every single year. But, the past four years I have gone to a haunted corn maze near Dekalb, IL. Here is the link, click on the bottom to see more about the haunted maze:
http://www.jonamacorchard.com/corn-maze
Each year they have a different shape. For $10, you get to go through two different mazes, one normal and one haunted. It can take a couple of hours to go through both which makes it a pretty good value for the money. So this past Friday we went for our annual trip out to the maze.
Last night my three friends and I went to another haunted house, here is the link to this one:
http://www.statesvillehauntedprison.com/
I’ve been to this one a few times, but this was the first time I went in probably five years or so. A lot of it has changed but some remains the same. It was pretty good though, all of the actors were amazing and really committed to being scary and theatrical. And they had some great props in there as well; normally I find props to be kinda lame but these were high quality scares. It cost $30 for two haunted houses, but I think it was worth it, which was confirmed by the hour long line we had to wait in just to get in.
Even though we were among the oldest people at both the corn maze and the haunted house, I can never get sick of going or feel out of place. I really do love them and will probably go until I’m old enough to die from the inevitable heart attack I get from walking through.
